(1) Mon Apr 04 2011 07:12make believe:
Today is the Indian New Year, which meant only six people showed up to work in my area. So I went for a nice lunch to Toit with the other coaches, Ross my boss, and Mickey and his wife, Ross's boss. We were sharing war stories from India. As Mickey says, you just can't make this stuff up.

In honor of India playing in the Cricket Cup final on Saturday, I bought a shirt at the Reebok Store on Commercial Street with the India flag on it. I got lots of compliments on it. I'll have to have Susie post a picture, but it's very Reebok looking.

Today at lunch another coach couldn't believe my shirt. She said she tried to buy one at a different Reebok store and they wouldn't sell it to her because it has the Indian flag on it and she's not Indian. Having bought mine at Commercial Street, the tourist shopping area, of course they sold me one. She was bitter and we were all bewildered. Why not sell her a shirt? It seems too odd to make this up.

Another topic at lunch was how little the US knows Asia. Stories include someone from TX thinking that Asia is a country, a NJ partner mistaking Bangladesh for Bangalore, and people from AL calling Bangalore Bangadore or some such word I'm not familiar with. Many people at lunch were poking fun at these supposed morons but I gently inserted that I only know Asia so well from my mission. After all, the public school system in the US mandates a World Civ course that focuses on Europe with a rather bland glance at Asia culture for maybe two weeks. So let's forgive our US counterparts and blame the system instead. I also mentioned to my coworkers that my wife's cousin is in Okinawa and I had no idea it was closer to Taiwan than the rest of Japan until I looked it up on a map after the earthquake last month.

In honor of the holiday today I worked 10-2:30 only doing hardly anything, then came home, worked out, watched "The Emperor's New Groove" with Maggie, and avoided the maid while she asked Susie for a loan.